Angels, Astros close set in Houston

(Sports Network) - Jerome Williams shoots for his third straight win on Sunday
when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim finish off a three-game series with the
Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Williams had gone 15 games without a win, but has emerged victorious in his
last two trips to the hill. He was helped out by his offense on Tuesday in
Toronto, as he allowed six runs and nine hits over five innings. The Angels
scored 12 runs, though, and Williams improved to 7-10 to go along with a 4.81
ERA.

"He just didn't look like he was able to get his sinker where he wanted to and
struggled through five innings," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

Houston, meanwhile, will counter with righty Paul Clemens, who is 4-4 with a
5.91 ERA. Clemens hasn't pitched since Sept. 2 when he received a no-decision
against Minnesota, which reached him for four runs (3 earned) in just 3 2/3
innings. He has made three relief appearances against the Halos and has
pitched to a 7.36 ERA in those outings without recording a decision.

"It's tough," Clemens said. "I pride myself on staying away from that DL and
missing time. ... But instead of missing three or four starts, go ahead and
miss one and hopefully finish the season."

On Saturday, Chris Iannetta homered and drove in two runs for Los Angeles in a
6-2 win.

Howie Kendrick and Kole Calhoun each brought in a run in the fourth for Angels
starter Jered Weaver (10-8), who tossed six innings and surrendered only two
runs across six hits with five strikeouts for the Angels, who have
won four of their last five games..

Brett Wallace's homer accounted for Houston's only two runs, while Brett
Oberholtzer (4-3) was reached for four runs on six hits over six innings for
the Astros, who had a four-game winning streak stopped.

"You look at his body of work, he did pretty good job of getting the game to
the sixth inning," Houston manager Bo Porter said of his starter. "He just
didn't look like he had that pinpoint command, that late life that we had seen
in a lot of his previous starts."